


A Hundred Years

by ClioSelene



Category: One Piece
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28775715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClioSelene/pseuds/ClioSelene
Summary: Law is turning 13 and believing it to be his final birthday.
Relationships: Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	A Hundred Years

**Author's Note:**

> The title (and the general idea) was a bit difficult to translate. In my home country, we wish a person "a hundred years" on their birthday. In other words, we wish them to live hundred years.

Law waked up before dawn. Actually, 'waked up' was a kind of understatement; the correct form was, 'was waked up'. Of course, by Corazon, who seemed as fresh as a daisy regardless of the time of year and day... Law should have got used to it already, but for some reason today and so early the vigour of his crazy guardian really annoyed him. What time it was? Certainly before seven, as the sky outside was still perfectly dark. And that lunatic was bustling around their current lodgings and even humming... although, at the first glance, he seemed to try to be quiet.

Law sat up on the bedding and quickly pulled up the cloak before it fell off him. Last night, he'd had fever again, though it had receded by morning, as usual, but maybe that was the reason he felt even colder now... He tried to stop himself from shivering - it was enough that around midnight he'd spent a whole hour trembling like an epileptic, which had left him sore all over - but in vain. He could only wrap himself in the black feathers, that made a great cover: the cloak isolated him from the cold, kept him warm. But there was no chance that he fell asleep again...

"Law!" Corazon exclaimed happily. "I didn't want to wake you!" he called with enthusiasm that completely opposed the content. "Happy Birthday!"

Law twitched again - this time in a surprise - staring at his guardian dumbfounded. Suddenly, he felt as if all blood left his head. "How-" he started before pressing his lips in a thin line and squinting in an attempt to collect himself. "What's that demented idea?!" he yelled and shivered again, which prompted him to pull the cloak all the way to his nose.

Corazon smiled joyfully as if Law had just complimented him in the most refined way. "I noticed that every year October 6 you got so gloomy like when the Family celebrated someone's birthday," he replied calmly, with conviction. "And you always ran away upon hearing the first, 'Happy Birthday!', too."

Law clenched his jaws. "I'm always gloomy," he dawdled, even though he hadn't planned it, and sank even deeper in the cloak.

Corazon slowly shook his head without averting his eyes, and Law swore inwardly. Sometimes, he forgot that his guardian, contrary to appearances, was very perceptive. Apparently, it hadn't escaped his attention that Law could be gloomy in many ways... Law should deny it, but something in Corazon's eyes told him that he wouldn't be able to convince him, while after yet another night of fever it was pointless to waste energy on quarrels.

"But Law! Birthday is a happy day!" Corazon became cheerful again. "I didn't want to wake you, but since you're already awake..." He went into the other room and soon came back, holding a big cake. "Ta-da!"

It made Law's skin crawl, but miraculously Corazon stayed on his feet and the cake safely reached the table.

"You expect me to eat cake for breakfast?! Are you mad?!" Law called in exasperation, which seemed the best reaction to such things. "Where did you get it?" he asked, even though it didn't really interest him.

"I ordered it yesterday at the baker's and ran there first thing in the morning," came the zealous answer that left Law speechless. Maybe the most amazing thing was that Corazon had managed to bring the cake intact. "Now, the candles..."

"No!" Law cried. "We don't need a fire right in the morning..."

Corazon didn't heed his objections only started to stick the candles in the cake. Law crawled out of bed and approached the table. The thought of eating the cake in the morning made him almost nauseous, but...

"Now, there's thirteen," Corazon said, clearly satisfied, and then handed Law the lighter. "You're right. It would be stupid to burn your birthday cake."

Law didn't move. He was standing and staring at the candles. Thirteen... Today, he was turning thirteen. He knew he wouldn't live to see his fourteenth birthday. He'd got used to that thought... or he'd thought he'd got used to it, but now that he had that thirteen before his very eyes, it shook him much more than fever. He had an absurd urge to turn on his heel and run out of the house, run in the darkness of the predawn... but where could he run to? Death would find him anywhere. Amber Lead had caught him and wouldn't let him go; it was like a cage, making him wait for inevitable, unable to do anything. It was pointless to waste energy. It was pointless to do anything.

"You'll do it better," he said in a dead voice, adding in thought, 'At least, we'll have something to laugh about..." He turned around to make sure that the cloak is safe.

Corazon didn't seem like the sudden responsibility weighed on him heavily. He beamed like the sun that was yet to rise, and flicked a lighter. "Then, maybe you should look at the presents in the meantime...?" he suggested eagerly. "There," he pointed at the sack near the bed.

'He even thought of the presents...' Law rolled his eyes, but there was something about the presents - or maybe about just getting them - that always made people excited. Law went back and grabbed the sack, then sat down on the bedding and opened it.

"I didn't know what would make you happy," Corazon chattered, the level of his enthusiasm exceeding normal levels. The hand with the lighter moved pass the cake and would undoubtedly put the tablecloth aflame if there was any. Sometimes Law was under the impression that the Family's opinion about Corazon, 'an absent-minded idiot', wasn't far-fetched. "So you'll find a few odds and ends there..."

Law reached inside the sack and took out the first item. A toy car...?

"I'm not five," he muttered with a sneer. "Besides, I didn't play with cars even when I was five."

An orange T-shirt with a polar bear...?

"I'm not putting on something like this," he said with a disgust. "Not in the autumn anyway."

Cigarettes? He looked at Corazon reprovingly, and Corazon patted himself on the head. "That's mine... Must have dropped."

A bottle of brandy? Law rolled his eyes again.

"I bet it's yours as well...?"

"Ah... not necessarily. Good liquor can hold many years."

Law spared himself a remark he wouldn't reach the age of being able to drink it. He dove into the sack again and took out the pair of black and fuzzy slippers resembling spiders that made him speechless for a longer while. He looked at Corazon, who, if he had a tail, he would undoubtedly wave it. Next to him, on the table... that was, on the cake, the candles were burning... that was, were lit.

"I wish I knew what _you_ got on your thirteenth birthday..." Law muttered, although he wasn't sure he really did.

"I? I got a uni-... Eee... I mean..." Law squinted, and Corazon suddenly averted his eyes. "Umpteen presents, I can't remember what exactly. Ah, we could do with some tea-a-a...!" he called and escaped into the kitchen. "Umpteen presents, umpteen presents..." could be then heard over the sound of water.

"Umpteen presents, sure..." Law muttered and then fingered yet another item in the sack.

A book. Heavy, thick, in a hard cover, with a title engraved, _Advanced Surgical Methods_. Some long-forgotten impulse urged him to open it and start reading... but he caught himself in the last second. He put the book down on his lap... then turned his face to the wall, for his throat suddenly clenched.

"Needless presents... Useless..." he whispered.

He wished he hadn't opened the sack. He'd known well he wouldn't find anything that could make him happy - not when his life had been circled with a thick line that was getting closer and closer with every day passing... with every heartbeat.

Two arms embraced him from behind, and then Corazon - Law hadn't heard him coming - said softly, "A hundred years for you." And then, hugging him even tighter, again, "A hundred years for you, Law."

Law's first instinct was to wrench himself free, but he was too weak to do as much... and Corazon wouldn't let go of him anyway. "I won't live a hundred years," he snapped back because everything was better than giving to the dejection. "No-one lives a hundred years. Well, except for the giants, perhaps..."

"In my homeland, people live that long," Corazon replied with confidence. "A hundred years for you, Law."

"You're not a normal human," Law noticed and snorted, but, for some reason, he felt better. Maybe it was because Corazon's warmth drove away the cold of the morning.

"If I could, I would've given you half of it already," he heard the firm answer.

He said nothing. He only turned his head to look at Corazon before pressing his lips tights.

"A hundred years for you, Law," his guardian said with emphasis.

"It's already four hundred," Law said with mockery, but something in his voice screeched. He lowered his head. "I'd be happy with forty... Even twenty. Even..." He bit his lips and wiped with eyes with a quick move. He only felt worse with such ideas. Dreams and wishes were pointless, only focusing on the present had any sense. Maybe.

He took a deep breath and realised that pressure in his chest diminished, as did the urge to run in the October morning. His eyes were stinging, and his nose was stuffy, but his muscles relaxed. And he felt warm. When one suffered from recurring fevers, feeling warm was important.

Corazon was still hugging him, and the thought of going anywhere seemed absurd now.

"Are you a magician?" Law asked without thinking and immediately felt embarrassed.

"Nowhere close," his guardian replied. "The magicians don't put themselves on fire with their own magic."

Law felt his lips twitch. That was undoubtedly true.

"But we don't need any magic to have our wish fulfilled," Corazon went on, and his voice was still exceptionally matter-of-fact. "We need only faith and hope."

"Will you give me some...?" Law asked, tilting his head and looking in the eyes above.

Corazon smiled.

"You'll even get a bonus."

And Law didn't ask what that bonus was. He thought he already knew the answer.


End file.
